Witness describes ice cream truck shooting, victim recovering

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A 19-year-old woman is recovering after she was shot in the arm while riding in an ice cream truck.

The shooting happened around 4:30 Tuesday evening on South Third Street in the Westwood community.

The young woman is expected to be OK. WREG tracked down a witness who saw the shooting and tried to help.

You see an ice cream van and you imagine it to be surrounded by children and families. Not flashing police lights and crime scene tape.

"I thought it was a child and didn't know if the child was hit or not. I thought this guy can't get away right?"

Which is why a man, who does not want to be identified for safety reasons, jumped action.

On his way home from work he thought he saw a child in the ice cream van being chased by a white Lexus. Thankfully a child wasn't involved but he did witness the shooting.

"When the ice cream truck went to do a u-turn it exposed me and so I was in the line of fire," he said.

While he said the gunfire was "alarming and edgy" it wasn't enough to stop him.

"I followed him maybe a half a mile further on Third Street and he turned into a neighborhood. In that neighborhood at some point I lost him," said the witness.

All the while he was on the phone with 911.

According to a police report, the ice cream van driver saw the gunman while he was inside Western Park Food. Apparently the two know each other. The suspect told the driver not to mess with him. Moments later that's when the chase started down South Third. After his girlfriend was shot, the ice cream truck driver returned back to the store for help.

Last word from police the suspect is still wanted.

WREG talked with someone who worked at Frosty Treats. They said the driver of the van involved is a private contractor.

He said the driver has been with the company for nine or 10 years and they've never had any problems with him in the past.